Of Fragile Souls
by thenerdnextdoor
Summary: She'd spent years being 'treated' in a mental asylum, learning isolation and agony to the point that anything else was alien. He'd done time in solitary confinement, learning that his 'gift' was a curse and he was a danger to everyone around him to the point that he feared himself. They were both recipes for mental breakdowns, but could their bond change things? (Alex/OC)
1. Visitors?

**I tried my hand at a DC story, and I really think I could have done a ****_lot_**** better than what I came up with. So, here I am, trying my hand at a Marvel story and praying that it'll turn out better, with a less rushed pace, a longer time span, and much more depth. **

**Hopefully you enjoy this first chapter!**

**P.S - the lack of Alex/OC stories is astounding. He's such a good character; you can really go deep into the way his mind works and stuff, instead of almost skimming over all the interesting and realistic things about him like they did in First Class. Anyhoos.**

**DISCLAIMER:**** The only thing I own in terms of this story is Evelyn and the plot points specific to her.**

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**Chapter 1: Visitors?**

_His coat of white should have meant that he was the embodiment of peace, of innocence and purity and everything good in this world, but he contradicted that in any and every way he could. His greasy, greying hair was pulled tightly back into a ponytail, stretching his wrinkled skin to make him even more gruesome looking, while black eyes peered out from underneath thin eyebrows, speaking only of ill intentions. A fat tongue darted out to wet his cracked lips, the corners turning up into a cruel smirk. "Sweet Evelyn," he muttered, "Today is the day that you cooperate with us."_

_It was the same threatening remark as it was in all the previous sessions, and he knew it was a lie, but he enjoyed people squirming under his menacing tone and look so much that the remark came instinctively to him. Unfortunately for him, he did not get such a reaction in these particular sessions; however, he would persevere until he was satisfied - he was infuriatingly patient in that sense. "Let us begin with this: why do you think you are here?" he asked. Kindness was coating his tone, painting over the malice in order to hide it from observers._

_"I don't know."_

_His finger twitched almost unnoticeably, but his associate caught the movement and pressed a finger down on the button. A buzzing noise echoed around the room, mingling with the quiet grunt that escaped my throat and the rustling of my gown against the chair as I jerked painfully._

_"There is obviously a reason, Evelyn. If there wasn't something wrong with you, you wouldn't be here. What do you think it is?" He started to circle the chair like a predator circles his prey, looming over me with those black eyes and that deceiving coat._

_"There's nothing wrong with me."_

_"Turn up the voltage and shock her again."_

_I exhaled slowly, closing my eyes as his associate flicked the switch for the next shock level, and relaxed my body. I was ready when the buzzer sounded again and pain shot through me like a bolt of lightning. The hairs on my arm stood on edge and an ache was threatening to set into my muscles, but I refused to react externally to his punishment. I would not be the source of any satisfaction for this monster._

_"Denial is unhealthy, Evelyn," he scolded, cocking his head at an angle as he stared. "It can do more harm than good in the long run."_

_My jaw clenched and I glared back at him. "I will not let you torture me into obedience," I spat quietly, unblinking. "There is __**nothing**__ wrong with me."_

_He tutted disappointedly, acting hurt. "Sweet Evelyn, this is not torture at all! This is a treatment to help you think straight, to make you healthy again." He turned to his associate and nodded, lips twitching just barely at the sound of the switch being flipped. But it didn't stop there._

_My face paled as switch after switch was flipped, his expression growing more and more disturbingly excited as they were. "You'll kill me if you aren't careful," I told him, voice steady._

_His face darkened as he grinned sinisterly, bowing his head to look at me better. "Oh, Evelyn, __**I'm**__ not going to kill you," he replied. "However, whether __**you**__ will be to blame is still to be decided. Do you want to die, Evelyn?"_

_"Yes."_

_The scream ripped at the flesh of my throat as it tore out of my mouth, my back arching rigidly and my muscles simultaneously clenching and tensing against the searing, agonising-_

I shot up off my thin mattress, clenching the sheets in one hand and my erratically thumping chest in the other. The flimsy gown covering my body clung to me like a second skin, drenched in a cold sweat, while my bark-brown hair stuck to my neck and shoulders. My breaths came heavily and uneven and my thoughts were completely jumbled as memories shot through me like the electric shocks, leaving behind just as much damage.

"Hey!" a gruff voice snapped, accompanied by a baton hitting the doorframe noisily. "Get your skinny ass out of bed before I drag you out myself."

I steadied myself and looked out through the caged window at the top of the door, seeing only one guard and no other form of life. "Why?" It was clearly the middle of the night; I didn't trust these guys to be alone with me and not take advantage of that.

"You've got visitors," he replied reluctantly, still as pissy as ever – possibly even more.

Then the words sunk in. _Visitors?_ That was as likely as me getting the hell out of this place, which was not likely at all, unfortunately. I couldn't understand who knew enough about me to discover I was here and _why_ they would then want to speak to me. I hadn't had contact with someone other than an employee here or a patient in over seven years; who would want to visit _me_? It was incomprehensible.

Nevertheless, I dazedly stood and walked over to the door, slipping out when the guard unlocked it. His baton pressed threateningly into my back the whole way through the pale, sterile corridors, his footsteps squeaking on the pristine floor while my bare feet padded silently. You'd think that with all the doctors rambling on about how they wanted to help you and how they wanted to make you better again, they'd have some more pleasant attendees to escort you around the building; but, no, they were all leering assholes who got off on being unfair and cruel to the helpless patients. It made my blood boil.

When we finally came to the Visitors' Room, I halted and stared. There was a large pane of thick, bulletproof glass that ran down the length of the room, splitting it in half. Walls intersected it at different distances to create private booths, while desks stuck out either side of it. In one of the booths there was a man sitting watching me, wearing expensive clothing with his brown hair smoothed on his head. I could see my reflection in the glass separating us: the dishevelled, brown hair; blank, dark eyes; and simple, unflattering – but still exposing – gown. I looked like a beggar compared to this man.

The guard shoved me forward and I took a seat at the desk, studying the man intensely. What did someone like him have to do with a "mentally unstable" patient like me? I noticed another man standing a while behind the seated one, this one standing up against the back wall with his hands in his pockets. Who was he, a bodyguard? I nearly snorted at the thought; there was no way I'd be able to get through this glass to the smaller man, so there was really no point.

"Hello, Evelyn," the seated man said gently, in a voice that sounded calming and comforting. I refused to be lured into a sense of false security, however. "My name is Charles Xavier." He was an Englishman in America, probably here for business of some sort – so why the hell was he sitting opposite me? "I'm currently working with the CIA, and I need your help."

I was hallucinating, or having a very realistic dream. I had to be. There was no reason for someone from the government to come down and speak to little old me. Unless- "What do you want from me?"

He frowned slightly at the harsh tone of my voice, obviously expecting me to have been calmed by his. "You have certain characteristics that we believe can help us defeat our enemy." My heart started thumping loudly in my chest, panic seeping into my bones.

They knew.

They knew about me and they wanted to take me away to kill me, rid the world of my freakish presence. "Believe me, I'm not here to hurt you," he said, placing a hand flat on the desk as he leaned forward, blue eyes shining compassionately.

"I'm not worried about that," I lied.

He smiled then, in an I-know-more-than-you-think way. "The reason I know you have these characteristics is because I am like you." He took his hand off the desk to lean against his temple, eyes flickering to the guard behind me. "Leave us." I quirked an eyebrow doubtfully, but the guard turned and walked out of the room, baffling me and sending me further into the inescapable depths of panic. Who was he that he had such influence over these guards? They never left a patient's side in case there was a chance for them to display their superiority. "What I'm going to tell you will come as a shock, Evelyn. It's only natural." I looked at him warily, readying myself to flee. "I am a telepath; I can read, communicate with, and control minds."

I stared at him. I stared at him for a long time. Then I got angry. "Bullshit," I muttered, standing up and turning my back on him.

"_Evelyn, I am not lying_."

My body froze, muscles tensing in angry disbelief. That voice, _his_ voice, had come from inside my head. He was _inside_ my head. That was my one sanctuary, the one place I could retreat to without anyone hurting me, and he was _inside_ of it, talking so calmly and so ignorantly to me. Rage contorted my features and I looked at him over my shoulder. "Stay the fuck outta my head," I snarled. Then I walked away.

"I know how you feel."

I stopped, closing my eyes against my irritation as I sighed deeply. When I recomposed myself I turned to face them again, looking at the new speaker. It was the taller man that had been standing against the wall, but he was now next to the small one, wearing just as expensive clothes, looking just as sharp. "Really?" I replied sarcastically, looking him over again. "I'm sure you do."

"You don't want him in your head because that's all you have left," he told me, cold, grey eyes piercing into my soul.

I scowled. "I guess you're some mind controller too, huh?"

He shook his head. "No, I just felt the same way when I met him."

My frown deepened. Then he angled his wrist towards me and pulled up his sleeve, exposing a tattooed series of numbers on his skin. It took me a moment to realise what they meant; we had a couple of patients like him here. "What happened?" I asked, turning to face them fully.

"A doctor discovered my mutation and experimented on me," he replied, pulling his sleeve back down.

"Mutation?" I repeated, the word feeling foreign on my tongue.

"Your mutation is your set of... inhuman characteristics. For example, my mutation is telepathy," Xavier answered my unspoken question, "And Erik's is the manipulation of metal."

"Why can't you just control your enemy's mind? Why do you need me?"

"Shaw is also a mutant, like us, and he is very dangerous; he has followers, we're uncertain of how many at the moment, but that means that it will be difficult getting close enough to stop him, especially since there is another telepath with him who is able to block my mutation from reaching him."

So, now there were at least four people in the world like me, with strange abilities like mine. Except, there was one problem: "I don't even know what my mutation is; how can I possibly help you?"

Charles smiled softly. "I can tell you what it is."

I quirked an eyebrow. "But there's a catch, right?"

"You'll have to let me inside your mind to look at your memories."

I sighed heavily, rubbing my face. "And why can't _I_ figure it out from them?"

"You were young when your mutation first triggered, you didn't understand what had happened or that you had even done anything. That ignorance might blind you again." I was going to challenge his word choice of "might" then and suggest that there was a chance I _would_ find it, but he spoke before I could. "I swear to you, Evelyn, I won't do anything else in your mind." The sincere and genuine look on his face was chipping at my reluctance to the point that I was seriously considering giving him permission. Then Erik spoke again.

"You can trust us, Evelyn."

My resolve broke and I found myself sitting in front of them again. "You only look for my mutation; try anything else and I'm gone." I didn't know if my threat would even spark some obedience in him – who knew if I actually was important enough to them that they wouldn't risk losing my help?

His fingers came up to his temple again and his bright blue eyes bore into my brown ones, staring into my soul. I felt exposed and vulnerable, but I longed to know what my mutation was. For the years I was locked in my cell at the back of the building, I could always feel something pulsing beyond the back wall when my emotions peaked. I would latch onto the sensation, aware of the fact that I was making _something_ happen, but I never knew what it was. Finally, I was about to find out.

Charles blinked and lowered his fingers, eyes bright with anticipation. "I'm not sure what the extent of your mutation is – although I'm certain you can be a very powerful mutant," he told me.

"But do you know what it _is_?" I demanded, subconsciously leaning forward.

"It is plant manipulation," he smiled. "When it first showed itself, all that happened was you made a flower grow from a seed to its full form in less than ten seconds, but, with some training, you could have control over so much more."

I leaned back in my seat, staring at him. The pulsing through the wall was the life of plants I was feeling, and I was controlling them. "Well, shit," I muttered, my eyebrows rising. A sudden longing to go outside and test this mutation of mine overwhelmed me, and I shifted in my seat.

"If you come with us, I promise you I will help you as much as I can to develop your mutation. You will be with other young mutants like yourself, you'll have a family, and you might just save millions of lives from a third World War."

I looked between the two men, curiosity burning like a bonfire in my stomach. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't quell it, and then words were tumbling from my lips: "I'm gonna hold you to that, Xavier."

He grinned brilliantly. "Please, call me Charles."

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**Please leave a review - they are immeasurably helpful; I need to know what erbody thinks of my story so far!**

**I'll hopefully see you again for a second chapter. Until then, stay fab. **


	2. Arrival

**Hello again! Thanks for waiting for the next installment of this story - I would have gotten it out sooner but I had to prepare to go on holiday with my friends and I was then away for a week. But, now I'm back, and the only thing stopping me from writing is work and lack of motivation; both of which will hopefully not prove to be as interfering as they could be. **

**It's wonderful to see how many reviews, follows, and favourites this has already! Special mention here for ****_booklover1698_**** who has also been on the journey of The Phoenix and The Riddler with me - it's very heartwarming to see your name again, friend! I always look forward to your reviews.**

**Without further ado, here's the second chapter! Enjoy, review, and hopefully feel satisfied by the end of it.**

**DISCLAIMER: I only own Evelyn.**

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**Chapter 2 - Arrival**

Erik and Charles had taken the opportunity to go out and buy me a pair of jeans and a tank top before they visited me, knowing that I wouldn't have any clothes in my possession that would fit me now. The tight, thick material felt foreign on my skin, but for the first time in years my legs were covered from hips to ankles and I felt far less exposed than I ever had before. I'd been able to shower as well before we left the asylum, so my skin was rid of blood, dirt, and sweat, my hair was no longer knotted and greasy, and I smelled _clean_. It was a complete transformation.

"How do you feel?" Charles asked as he and Erik walked me through the empty corridors of the 'facility' – darkness had descended over the world but the telepath had told me the other mutants had stayed up to welcome me.

"Like a different person," I answered slowly, frowning.

"Is that a bad thing?" Erik asked, quirking an eyebrow.

We stopped in front of a set of doors, behind which I realised my fellow mutants sat waiting. "I'm not sure yet."

Charles smiled for a moment before a look of concern overcame his features. "Are you sure you want to meet them now? There are only four of them currently but that's still a big step up for you, is it not?"

I blinked and looked up at him. "What's life without a challenge?" I replied, stepping forward and pushing a door open.

"Dull," Erik said behind me, following me in.

The room stretched out on either side of me, with matching, rectangular windows covering most of the side walls. The window on the left overlooked a large field of grass with some strange sphere-like construction, while the window on the right overlooked a courtyard with bushes and grass and stone and a metal statue. Inside, the left of the room consisted of a bar and several sets of tables and chairs – there was also some machine that was flashing colourful lights which was completely unfamiliar to me – and the right of the room consisted of two sofas, two armchairs and another set of table and chairs.

"It's the thought that counts, I suppose," Charles sighed, smiling at the sofas.

The four mutants that had planned on waiting for me were sprawled out over the sofas and armchairs, sleeping soundly. On one sofa there was a pretty blonde girl leaning on a brown-haired boy's shoulder, his head leaning on top of hers, causing his glasses to sit on his face oddly. On the other sofa, another girl with coffee-coloured skin was laid out over the black leather, arms tucked into her chest, black hair fanning over her shoulders and back. In one of the armchairs sat a young, black man a few years my senior, his elbow propped up on the armrest with his fist supporting his cheek.

I was at a loss for words. These people didn't even know me and yet they had sat up, fighting against their fatigue, just so that I would have a welcome upon arrival. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me, and it ignited a warmth in my chest that brought a genuine smile to my face.

"How sweet," Erik remarked insipidly, staring at the blonde girl and the brunette boy. "Perhaps we should send them to their proper beds."

"I don't want to disturb them," Charles replied reluctantly.

Erik turned to him with a cold look. "They need to get a decent sleep, Charles. Shaw could attack at any moment."

"Shaw doesn't know where we are."

"Don't underestimate him."

"I'm not," Charles insisted irritably.

"You don't know him like I do," Erik snapped.

"I know everything you know, Erik."

"Uh, welcome back, Charles, Erik," an unfamiliar voice spoke up. The three of us looked over to the armchair to see the black man looking over at us, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "And you must be the new recruit?" he asked, taking his hand away and standing up with a friendly smile.

I stepped forward to shake his hand as the others slowly pulled themselves from slumber, groaning and yawning. "Evelyn," I told him.

"Nice to meet you, Evelyn, I'm Darwin," he replied. He put a hand on my shoulder and stood next to me, looking at the other mutants. "Guys, this is Evelyn. You gonna introduce yourselves or stand there like a bunch of zombies?"

The brunette boy was flushed red after waking up in that position with the blonde girl and scurried over, apparently fleeing the situation with her as fast as he could. I smirked as I shook his hand. "I'm Hank," he told me with a nervous smile, fixing his glasses.

As soon as he stepped away, the coffee-skinned girl was in front of me, shaking my hand too. "Hi, Evelyn, I'm Angel."

The blonde girl pushed Angel out the way playfully, grinning widely as she shook my hand. "I'm Raven, Charles' sister," she said brightly. Then she looked to Darwin. "Didn't I tell you it would be another girl?" she smirked.

He sighed, rolling his eyes, and handed over ten dollars. "Yeah, yeah."

I could feel my throat closing up slightly at the overabundance of bodies in the room, my heartbeat quickening under my chest, but I told myself that I wasn't going to get better if I didn't expose myself to uncomfortable situations, no matter how overwhelmed I got. I needed to stand firm and force myself to adjust. "It's nice to meet you all," I said, gaining their attention, "Really. I appreciate you staying up this late – even if it _was_ for a bet –" Raven blushed at that, "But you honestly didn't have to."

"C'mon," Raven scoffed, her blush dissipating, "It would've been rude to not welcome you."

"Technically we _were_ kind of rude, given that we were asleep when she came in," Hank told her.

She turned to send him a brief glare. "Thank you for that, Hank." He flushed red and looked down at his shoes.

"We all didn't know there were other mutants out there," Darwin told me, smiling, "So we were really excited to meet another one." I smiled back at him.

"I think everyone should go to bed now," Charles interrupted, smiling happily. Erik stood behind him, his face as stony as ever, watching.

"Where am I sleeping?" I asked.

Suddenly an arm linked with mine and started pulling me along. I looked to the source of the limb, startled, and saw Ravens's bouncing, blonde curls. "You're bunking with Angel and I," she announced.

A hand shot out and grabbed my other arm, halting the both of us roughly. I bowed my head, closing my eyes against uninvited memories of being manhandled, and steadied my breathing again. Then Erik's voice was in my ear. "Come to me if you have any problems," he said, leaving no room for arguments, and let go once I nodded distractedly.

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The girls' room was long and narrow, only wide enough for four beds to sit across it with a small space between the foot of the beds and the opposite wall to walk along. The bottom two beds were dishevelled and had suitcases propped up against them, meaning they were taken by the other girls already; however, I wanted to sleep closest to the door, which left a spare bed in between us. This was one uncomfortable situation I wasn't going to adjust to; I needed that bed next to the door.

As Raven and Angel went to theirs and plopped down, looking at me, I closed the door and stood at the one I wanted. "Do you mind if I take this one? I don't mean to be rude or unsociable; I just prefer to sleep closest to the door."

Angel turned to glance at Raven before they both looked back to me. "Of course, Evelyn, why would we mind?" Raven asked, frowning with a touch of concern and curiosity.

_Because there's always someone to refuse my requests, no matter how simple,_ I could have said. Instead, I replied, "I just thought it might have been rude."

They smiled. "Don't worry about it," Angel assured me.

It took me a moment to convince myself that they were being genuine and this wasn't a trick, and then I sat down on my bed and pulled my legs up underneath me. "How long have you both been here?" I forced out, unfamiliar with initiating conversations.

"I've been here for about two weeks now," Raven answered, stretching out on her side.

"I've been here for a week and four days," Angel added.

"What about the others?" I asked.

"Well, Hank was already here when Charles, Erik, Moira, and I arrived – he worked here – but Darwin's been here a week," Raven calculated.

"Wait, who's Moira?" I frowned.

"Oh, she's the CIA agent my brother's crushing on," she smirked. I couldn't help smiling too.

"How come they took so long to get me compared to you and Darwin?" I asked, nodding at Angel.

"They tried to recruit another mutant in between you and Darwin," Angel replied, "But I think he wasn't interested."

"Charles said he was very blunt when he expressed his refusal," Raven grinned amusedly.

I didn't really understand, but I smiled anyway with the two girls. After looking at my fidgeting hands and debating whether or not I could manage to speak some more – I hadn't spoken so much in _years_ – I looked back up at them. "So, what are your mutations?"

Angel opened her mouth to speak, but Raven bolted upright and flung a hand out to stop us. "No!" she shouted, panicked. I jumped at her outburst, wrapping my arms around myself to calm my heart. These people were going to give me a heart attack. "We have to wait until everyone's here and _then_ show each other!"

Angel rolled her eyes. "Raven, you've told us that continuously ever since we got here; I wasn't going to tell her."

"It's just a precaution," Raven grumped, collapsing on her bed again.

I smiled and decided that I was done for the day. As I started pulling back the bed covers, Angel perked up again. "Do you need stuff to sleep in?" she asked kindly.

For a moment I frowned, ready to tell her that I was already wearing something; but then I remembered back to a long time ago, when you wore a different outfit to bed than you did during the day. My mood significantly dropped and I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I guess."

"That's okay, I can lend you some stuff – I brought just about every set of clothes I own to this place; who knows how long we'll be here?" she rambled, noticing my discomfort. After digging in her suitcase she pulled out a pair of shorts and a thin-strapped tank top and handed it to me.

I blinked at them and then looked up at her. "Is there somewhere I can change?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry, of course," she nodded, slapping a hand to her forehead. "There's a bathroom just opposite, if you want." I nodded and thanked her before heading out.

The bathroom was definitely made more for function than appearance, but, to me, it was incredible. I got changed into Angel's clothes, frowning at my once again bare legs, and picked up my old clothes. As I turned, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and saw a mirror hung up on the wall. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared, and stared, and stared. The last time I had looked at myself in such detail was when I was twelve, and I had _changed_.

For starters, my hair was no longer at my shoulders and instead fell to my stomach in waves – but I had already known that. However, the emerald speckles glowing in my brown eyes were completely alien and unexpected, as was how mature my face seemed. I looked so _different_ and I wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

Perhaps this could be the start of something new? The twelve-year-old me was the one that was admitted to an asylum and forced to endure cruelty no child should be exposed to; this nineteen-year-old me could be the one to leave the past behind her and begin a new life, with a new family. The only question was: _could_ I move on from my past?

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**There you are, pals. Hopefully this was enjoyable and I didn't piss anyone off with my portrayals of the characters! **

**The next chapter should be coming out soon, depending on whether or not I overload myself with writing for other stories that aren't even up here. Seriously, I have so many ideas for things - another X-Men (Pyro/OC); a Rise of the Guardians (Jack/OC); a 3:10 To Yuma (William/OC); The Hangover (Phil/OC); Transformers (Ironhide/OC); 21 Jump Street (Jenko/OC); Assassin's Creed (Altair/OC); and, of course, the other story I have up here: LOTR (Legolas/OC). Let me know if any of these interest you and I guess it might come about that it'll be the next story I get into!**

**I think I might start posting updates on the stories in my profile biography, so keep an eye out for info there:)**

**See y'all next time!**


	3. Return

**Howdy beautiful folks! Sorry for the delay, but here's the next installment. Special mention for ****_Castiel Angel Heart _****for being the only one to reply to my other story ideas: thank you very much for nominating a Jenko/OC; I'm also disappointed by the complete lack of them, so we're going to have to do something about that!**

**Enjoy the chapter:)**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the things in this story that you recognise. Only Evelyn.**

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**Chapter 3 – Return**

When I woke up on the third day, Angel and Raven were already awake and sitting quietly on their beds, waiting for me as usual. I'd discovered that my peers preferred to travel in a group to avoid an agent confronting them on their own, and, to be honest, I had to agree with them. The looks we received just walking through the corridors was evidence enough that mutants weren't favoured at all by these agents, and sometimes they were so vicious that I worried about what would happen if they were allowed to do what they wanted to us.

I knew that I would be able to handle just about anything they threw at me – I'd pretty much experienced it all already – so I wasn't really concerned for myself, and I'd seen the arm muscles Darwin had under his shirt sleeves that showed he could definitely do some damage if he wanted to; it was the others I worried about. Hank was weak; there was no doubt about it. He was nervous and shy and insecure and if someone said boo to him he'd fall apart at the seams. Angel tried to act strong, claiming she'd had worse insults thrown at her from her time as a dancer in a gentlemen's club, but anyone who looked close enough could see that it really did hurt her. If push came to shove, I didn't know if she'd be able to stand up for herself physically. Then, there was Raven. The insults thrown our way, about being freaks or being ugly, they cut her deeply. I could have sworn the second night I was here, I could hear her muffled sobs for at least forty minutes. There was something about her that made her incredibly insecure – which I supposed is what drew her to Hank and vice versa – and she was dangerously vulnerable because of it.

Even if Darwin and I could protect ourselves, there was no telling if we would be able to hold off that many agents to protect the others. They outnumbered us ridiculously, which made us weaker. Sure, we all had mutations that could probably do some damage, but how well could we all control them? And were we even prepared to use them violently? If it _did_ come to a fight, the best case scenario would be that Erik and Charles were around to work their magic and do some fancy tricks, but they were almost always travelling to find the new recruits and bring them back; they wouldn't always be here.

Erik had said that Shaw could attack at any moment. I could see that he believed that with all he had, and I believed him. Shaw was powerful and dangerous enough that he could make people think there was going to be a third World War, _and_ he had followers – if he came while Erik and Charles were gone, we'd be screwed. I wished that the two of them would hurry up and get the other mutants so that I could learn everyone's mutations and get an idea of how much of a defence we could put up, but they were taking _days_, and that was time I worried we didn't have.

Suddenly there was a knock on our door, making me jump, and Darwin's voice floated through the wood. "You girls ready for breakfast?"

I sat up and ruffled my messy hair, hearing both girls' stomachs rumble. Smirking, I called back to him, "I need to get changed, but these two are ready." I looked over to them both and nodded my head at the door. "I'll catch up with you."

Raven seemed to pale. "It's fine, Evelyn, we can wait on you," she insisted.

It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that there were now people who were concerned for my well-being and possibly considered me a friend of theirs, so for a moment I couldn't really formulate a coherent response. "I'll be fine, Raven, you don't need to worry about me."

Angel seemed to see that more than the blonde. "Don't be too long," she said firmly, before the two of them left the room.

I swung my legs over the side of my bed and sat there, staring at the floor. I'd done this countless times already, but that had been when I was in the asylum where I was "inferior" and "unstable" to pretty much every other living soul in the building – and probably the ghosts too, if there were any. Now, I still seemed that way to the majority of the people in the facility, but there were a select few who saw me as their equal and possibly their friend, and that made everything else bearable. I wasn't alone anymore.

Slipping off my bed, I grabbed the pair of denim shorts Angel leant me and a grey tank top of Raven's and pulled them on. Quickly, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and shoved my feet in a pair of Raven's baseball boots – they were a little bit too big for me, but they were better than bare feet on cold floors, which is what I was used to. I was still uncomfortable with showing so much skin, but I needed to overcome that and move on – these clothes were more substantial than the flimsy gown I used to live in, and they did not mean that I was a patient; they meant that I was free.

I made my way through the corridors, relaxed but keeping an ear out for anything unwanted just in case. Everything was fine until I came to the doors to the mess hall. One of the agents came out, the door swinging close to my face. I dodged to the side and grabbed onto it, stilling its movements as he stepped out next to me. He was tall and looming, with eyes that seemed to go black the longer I looked at them. For a moment he was wearing a white coat, but then I blinked and it was gone, along with his black eyes. He had a smirk on his face, his brown gaze sweeping over my body appreciatively.

My features hardened. "Excuse me," I said, struggling to sound polite.

Suddenly the smirk was gone and it looked as if he'd smelled something foul. "You're a mutant," he stated. I wondered if he'd been blinded by his lust before so much that he'd failed to deduce that about me. "If you weren't," he trailed off, looking at my chest and thighs before smirking again, "The things I'd do to you."

"Do you really think pissing me off will do you any good?" I challenged, my heart thumping loudly in my ears. "I could ruin your life."

He scoffed. "I bet you couldn't hurt a fly."

I clapped my hands together and pushed one of my palms towards him quickly, closing my eyes. When I opened them with a secretive smirk, I saw his face had paled and his hands were starting to shake. "You might not want to eat bacon for a while, _pig_," I told him.

Agent Pigtail – as I decided I'd take to calling him – flinched away from me when I walked into the mess hall, smirking at the expression on his face. For now, at least, I could settle with threatening the agents with my mutation – and I could make it anything I wanted, as long as they didn't know of my real one. It wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do to someone, and it certainly wasn't going to get me in their good books, but if they were allowed to go around making comments like that and throwing insults as frequently as _breathing_, then I sure as hell didn't care. I wanted to see how long I could fool them like that, and I was going to have fun doing it.

Spotting the others sitting at a table in the far corner – the closest tables to them being empty, of course – I started to make my way over, studying them. Hank was sat next to Darwin on one side of the table, head low and shoulders hunched in towards his neck, giving off an undeniable air of insecurity; Raven sat opposite him, playing with her food, her blonde curls falling forward to hide the sides of her face; Angel was sat next to her, head up but face filled with stony misery, slowly picking at her meal. Darwin was the only one who looked mildly comfortable, eating his food normally, his shoulders rolled back and head rising in between bites in an image of humble confidence. I would ask Erik and Charles if we could eat in the recreational room, but 1. they weren't here, and 2. everyone needed to grow a goddamn backbone if they were going to live in this world. Darwin and I could only do so much.

"Evelyn!" Raven sighed in relief when she peeked out from beneath her hair, head snapping up to look at me. Hank glanced over and forced a stiff, brief smile before returning to his hunched-over position, and Angel lightened up almost imperceptibly.

"I told you I'd be fine," I replied, sitting next to Darwin. He gave me a bright smile and shifted so I'd have more room. I glanced around at their trays of food, frowning slightly. Most of them hadn't eaten much at all.

"Here, have mine," Raven said, sliding hers over to me, mistaking my expression for envy.

I shoved it back. "No, Raven. Eat your own food."

"I've been trying for the past ten minutes," Darwin warned me tiredly, "They won't listen."

"I'm not hungry," Raven said slowly, irritably, pushing the tray to me again.

I reached out and stopped it roughly, glaring at her over the table. "Eat it," I told her, allowing my tone to adopt a harsher edge."Or I'll make you."

She huffed in annoyance and grumpily stabbed her food with her fork, shoving it into her mouth. "Fine," she muttered. I sent a look to Angel and Hank, watching as they reluctantly dug in too.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Darwin teased me, sending me an impressed grin.

I allowed a smile to tug at my lips, although there was a bitterness to it that I knew he noticed. "You have to learn to stand up for yourself, sometimes," I replied, mind briefly lapsing into memories of cruel guards, violent patients, and power-hungry doctors. _If I hadn't, they would have killed me._

Obviously sensing I didn't want him to ask questions, he smoothly redirected the conversation. "Will you bite my head off if I give you my leftovers?"

An amused grin broke out across my face, startling me momentarily. Darwin smiled, pleased with himself and pleased for me. I couldn't find the comfort in myself to reply with a carefree, witty remark however, so I merely settled for: "No, I'll thank you," with a grateful smile.

"Good enough for me," he said, nodding, as he slid his tray to me. I didn't know if he meant that it was better than biting his head off, or that my reaction had been good enough for him just now, or what, but I knew it was more than a simple remark, and I knew that he at least had a vague inkling of what was going on inside my head. I had to admit, as refreshing as it was, I found it slightly unsettling.

* * *

A few hours later, we were back in the recreational room; Hank, Angel, and Raven sat on the sofas off to my left, while I sat on a stool at the bar and Darwin stood behind it, pouring us all glasses of Coke. I was leaning my forearms on the bar, staring longingly out at the expanse of grass and, beyond that, the dense woodland. I really wanted to test my mutation out somewhere that I'd be able to see what I was doing for once, to see what extent my powers reached when I pushed them to the limit, but that would "ruin the surprise", as Raven never ceased to remind us. So, instead, I was left with a tantalising view that made me very grumpy and very serene at the same time.

"Hey, Hank?" Darwin called out.

"Uh, yeah?" Hank replied, surprised he'd been addressed.

"What's the big sphere thing out there?"

Hank rose from his seat, eyes lighting up as he strode with a newfound confidence towards us. "That's Cerebro," he said proudly, smiling at it.

I quirked an eyebrow at Darwin, the word completely foreign to me. "Spanish for 'brain'," Darwin grinned back at me.

"What does it do?" I asked Hank, twisting on my stool to face him. Normally, I wouldn't have been the one to initiate a longer conversation, but this topic induced such a change in him that I couldn't pass up the opportunity; it was wonderful to see him so animated.

"I programmed it so that Charles is able to use it to enhance his telepathic abilities," he replied, looking me straight in the eye, his passion never wavering. "It's what allowed him to find all of you. Once he locates a mutant, it records their coordinates, and he uses it to lead him to them. It's produced accurate results so far, given that you're all here."

"It's incredible," Raven added in, a fond smile on her face as she walked over, looking at Hank.

"Sounds like it," Angel agreed, following after her.

I smiled as Hank flushed, stuttering a thank you. Raven's smile widened. "You should see the jet."

I blinked and Darwin's eyebrows shot up. "Jet?" he repeated incredulously.

"It's just a model-" Hank rushed.

"C'mon, I'll show you!" Raven exclaimed excitedly, hurrying towards the door.

I smiled at Hank's embarrassment and followed after the girls, hearing Darwin mumble, "Now _this_ I gotta see," behind me.

"It's really nothing," Hank protested weakly at the back.

"Don't underestimate yourself," I replied, walking out the doors, nearly colliding into Raven and Angel. They were stood stock still, silent, and for a moment my heart leapt into my throat in panic, pushing past them to confront the guards I'd assumed were in our way.

But it wasn't guards.

The first figure I identified was Erik, and I felt my tense muscles deflate in relief as I let out a sigh. Next to him walked Charles, and behind them both was a lanky, ginger boy with bright blue eyes and a lopsided grin on his plump lips. "Where are you all running off to?" Charles smiled, watching me carefully.

"Nowhere-"

"To show everyone Hank's jet model," Raven interrupted the poor boy, grinning, as she slipped in front of me again to greet her brother with a hug.

As soon as he was past her, Erik subtly rolled his eyes and walked over to us, leaving the ginger boy in what should have been an awkward position, what with Raven and Charles hugging affectionately, but he was still grinning lopsidedly, looking completely confident in himself. "How were things?" Erik asked quietly, coming to stand by my side as I leant against the wall at the side of the group.

I watched as the others walked over to the new recruit, now that the siblings had separated and started the introductions, and replied just as quietly, "Tense. These agents are unpredictable and three out of the five of us are far too insecure and not confident enough to handle their own in a fight if it comes to it. Tell me this new guy is as confident as he looks?"

Erik glanced down at me, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes briefly as he said, "Insufferably so."

I smirked at his irritation and exhaustion that obviously stemmed from the ginger. "Good."

"The agents didn't confront you though?" he asked, rebuilding the serious atmosphere.

_Yes_. "No, they were fine. For now. I'm hoping that when the last recruit comes, we'll be a big enough group to intimidate them at least a little bit. The image we're giving off right now isn't exactly formidable. We're like lambs among wolves." I could hardly believe how much I was talking, especially with someone who showed no emotion most of the time and often didn't respond to anyone.

"Once we get the last one, Charles and I will be around more, too. They won't bother you then."

"You better be quick about it."

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "Is someone feeling suddenly sociable?"

Before I could stop them, my eyes rolled at his unexpected teasing. "I'd just appreciate the security in numbers, you know? Plus, I want to know everyone's mutations – it'll come in handy if we ever do need to defend ourselves."

He nodded in agreement, turning to look at the others again. Then he pushed off the wall and looked ready to wander off. "You should introduce yourself," he simply stated, before disappearing into a corridor.

I sighed, not so relieved anymore, and prepared myself for more interaction. For some reason, interaction with everyone else was different than when it was with Erik; he just seemed to make words flow from my mouth easily without me having to force or fake them even in the slightest. I felt like I could be my usual, unsociable, awkward, cold self around him, because I knew he alone understood the most.

"Evelyn," Charles smiled, waving me up to the front of the group where the ginger was standing. "This is Sean," he told me. Sean's grin appeared to have not faltered at all since I first saw him, and his gaze quickly took in my figure before he winked at me. I quirked an eyebrow, not pissed off like I would have been with an agent, because I got the vibe that Sean was just being playful, and shook his hand. "Sean, this is Evelyn." Charles then looked over all of us, his gaze flickering to where Erik had walked off. "I'll leave you to it, then, shall I?" he grinned, kissing Raven's temple before heading off.

"So, Sean, do you want to see Hank's jet model?" Raven asked friendlily.

"Sure," he replied. "But, uh, do you have any snacks? I like snacks."


	4. Internal Conflicts

**And here's another chapter for all you lovely folks out there. As always, reviews are welcomed gladly, and I hope you enjoy - Alex finally makes an appearance!**

**P.S: as for other story ideas, I've had a few more (way to make it easier for myself) that include an AU Game of Thrones fic with an Arya/Gendry pairing because I just love them and I've made them closer in age to make it not so weird, and (I don't know if anyone will have even heard of this, but just in case..) a Red vs Blue fic with an Agent Washington/OC pairing - it's a web series that uses Halo games to portray the story, and it's really very good.**

**DISCLAIMER: Pretty much everything except Evelyn belongs to Marvel.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Internal Conflicts**

As soon as Erik and Charles left, I felt the bubble of security and serenity I had been living in pop beneath me, dropping me into the murky waters of vigilance and tension; whenever something had seemed like it was going to get nasty, one or both of them had always miraculously appeared around the corner, ready to save the day, but that safety net was no longer available to us anymore, and the agents knew it as well as we did.

It had been five days since the older mutants left, and for five days I'd been steadily growing more uneasy and twitchy. I kept seeing the white coat and black eyes everywhere, and the mild nightmares that had been bothering me every night were getting worse and more frequent – most nights I'd have at least three nightmares. I'd thought that after I stood up to the agent, I was finally starting to move on, but everything had just gone downhill after that point, and having my safety net taken away wasn't helping at all. After all the progress I'd been making, I was now becoming quieter and sinking into myself further day by day. That only made me more miserable and ashamed.

Before he'd left, Charles had sought me out and told me that the next recruit was in a similar situation to mine; he'd said that he was sure I'd be glad to have someone who knew how I felt around me more frequently than Erik, and that it might take longer for them to bring this one back to the facility. I didn't want to meet another recruit who'd had a similar experience to mine. I longed to believe I felt like that because I wouldn't wish my experience on my worst enemy, but that wasn't my primary reason – I didn't want to have another, more prominent and unavoidable, reminder of my time in the asylum; I didn't want to talk over things with someone else. I wanted to move on, to leave it all behind me, and how was I to do that when there was a reminder in front of me all day, every day?

Charles had said that he understood how I felt and why I felt that way. I didn't believe him.

I'd taken to sleeping during the day and wandering the facility at night, effectively avoiding the other mutants who had finally relented and let me be. The building was just so much more enjoyable when there were barely any agents walking around and I didn't have someone constantly asking whether I was okay or I needed some food. I'd eat dinner with them in the evenings, and possibly breakfast if one of them was up early enough to run into me, but then I'd go straight to bed. I wouldn't actually get to sleep for hours, and then, when I did, I would only be under for about half an hour before the nightmares kicked in. My mind was slowly slipping away and I was worried that there wasn't anything I could do about it.

* * *

I was in the main atrium of the facility, looking around at the empty, shadowed building, when I decided I wanted to test my mutation. No one was awake, no one would see what I was doing, so I didn't see any problems. I walked outside into the cool, fresh air, breathing it in, and started down the pathway.

I knew that there were plants on either side of me, and I tried reaching out with my hands, but I couldn't feel that pulse that I usually felt. Wondering whether that meant that I couldn't control the plants unless my emotions peaked, I turned left at the end of the path and headed out onto the huge field of grass, making a beeline for the fence perimeter, beyond which was the woodland.

There wasn't a buzzing sound emitting from the fence, so I assumed it wasn't going to electrocute me if I touched it, and pulled myself up and over it. I looked up at the large tree in front of me, contemplating whether, someday, I'd be able to manipulate the bark, before climbing up it into the higher branches. I settled down on a thick one, stretching my legs out in front of me, completely unafraid of falling, and leant back against the trunk contentedly. It was comfier than my bed.

* * *

**3****rd**** Person**

Erik slipped out of the car, stretching his cramped muscles, as he tuned Charles' ramblings out – the new recruit would just have to deal with them himself. His back cracked satisfyingly and he sighed, turning to face the two, their faces hidden slightly by the darkness. "Are the others all asleep?" he asked Charles.

The telepath brought his fingers to his temple, his eyebrows furrowing a little. "Most of them are," he replied. "Evelyn isn't in her room or the recreational room."

Erik's fists clenched. If the agents had hurt her– "Where is she?"

After another tense moment, Charles found her and lowered his fingers. "Sleeping in a tree by Cerebro."

Suddenly finding an image of the exact tree she was using stored in his mind, Erik turned and walked away from the telepath and the recruit, making his way towards Evelyn. When they had gone to recruit her, Charles had told him of her treatment at the hands of the asylum. Even when he hadn't known her, he'd been angry for her. Humans were disgusting with their experimenting and their blind disregard of the fact that mutants had nothing wrong with them; they were better than the humans in every way possible. Evelyn was an example of this, as was Erik himself – despite the trauma and torture they both went through, they came out with barely a scratch on their mental state, compared to how a human would have turned out; a human put through their experiences would have probably succumbed to the madness by now and either killed themselves or morphed into a murdering psychopath. And, no, he wasn't being extreme thinking like that, thank you very much.

He couldn't help the protectiveness that overcame him whenever he saw her; it was just in his nature. He knew what she'd been through, experienced it firsthand himself, and he didn't want a fellow mutant to ever go through something like that again. So, he was going to ward off anything traumatic that came her way, because he'd had no one to do that for him when he was her age.

When he finally came upon her tree, he frowned in bewilderment. She was nowhere to be seen. He knew she was there, somewhere, hidden amongst the branches, but she was completely unnoticeable. Then he really paid attention to the branches. They looked natural enough, but when he looked closer, he saw how they were bent at weird angles in order to wrap around the tree, presumably encasing her against the trunk. He smirked, a spark of pride igniting in his chest at the sight.

"_Erik, Darwin just told me that Evelyn has been acting strangely lately. She's been sleeping during the day and avoiding them all. I think it would be best if we leave her to sleep in the tree tonight; it might help her._"

"Can you see what she did?" Erik asked, ignoring the worrying news for now – he could ask her about it when she woke.

"_Yes, it's incredible. I knew she could do more than grow flowers._"

"I'm going to stay here, to make sure nothing happens during the night."

"_Alright, Erik. Goodnight._"

When Charles said nothing more, Erik sat down against the fence and looked out over the grass field towards the lit facility, pondering Evelyn's change in behaviour.

* * *

**Evelyn**

Birdsong broke through the thick cocoon of slumber and dragged me out, igniting awareness of my surroundings. I was so comfy, and it was so warm and dark in here, but there was something not right. First of all, when I usually woke up, I'd wake up on my bed; second of all, I was _inside_ something dark, but I could hear the birds, and there were slivers of light breaking through whatever barrier there was between me and the outside world.

Feeling fear and panic course through me, my hand shot out and made contact with something hard and unrelenting. I was trapped. I didn't know where I was and I was trapped there. My voice was struck in my throat and my heart was hammering against my ribcage so hard I thought it would burst out any second.

Then I felt it: I felt the pulsing. "Get me out," I whimpered, pushing at the pulsing with all that I had.

The barrier uncurled itself from behind me and separated into several thin strands, stretching out away from me until they came to a rest, scattered and broken. I blinked. They were branches. They were branches and I was in a tree. I felt myself relax instantly, letting out a tired chuckle as my head fell back against the trunk. I'd gotten myself worked up over nothing.

Except it wasn't nothing. My head shot up again and I stared wide-eyed at the branches. I'd controlled them, I'd made them move! This was incredible. I had to tell Erik.

My mood dropped and I sighed – Erik probably wasn't back yet, and he'd wonder why I'd been out here in the first place, which meant that I'd have to tell him about the nightmares and avoiding everyone all the time. "Fabulous," I grumbled.

The branch I was lying on was thick enough to hold my weight until about halfway, but, luckily, that's as far as I needed to go before I could drop down on the other side of the fence. As soon as I did, there was movement on my right and I flinched away, untrusting. But then I saw who it was. "You're back," I stated, staring at him as I frowned disbelievingly.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up. "You're observant," he replied.

"Did you sleep here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To make sure you didn't fall out of that tree."

"Did you see what I did?"

He smirked. "Yes. Well done."

"I don't even remember doing it," I told him, "I must have done it in my sleep."

"Either way, you're getting stronger."

I nodded mutely, thinking to myself. Then something occurred to me. "Is the new recruit here?" He nodded, watching me as I sighed and ran a hand over my face, suddenly feeling tired again. "I don't want to be reminded of the asylum."

He put a hand on my shoulder and started leading me back to the facility. "I don't think he wants to be reminded of solitary confinement either. You don't have to talk to him about it if you don't want to."

"That hadn't occurred to me," I admitted, smiling bitterly at my ignorance.

"What's going on with you? Why are you acting strange?"

Sometimes I wasn't too fond of Erik's blunt approach to things. "I think I'm just worrying that this freedom isn't going to last forever," I replied, staring at the grass as it passed beneath my feet. "And that I'm going to have to go back at some point."

His fingers tightened on my shoulder. "You're out of there for good, Evelyn. You're never going to go back."

He sounded so adamant that I allowed myself to believe him, if only a little. "I hope not."

"I won't let you," he said then, looking down at me firmly, his grey eyes burning with hatred for the place.

I couldn't even speak. He was that angry with the asylum because of the way they treated _me_. He was angry on _my_ behalf. No one had been angry on my behalf before. No one.

* * *

Erik was the first to go through the doors into the recreational room, with me following behind uneasily. I was worried how everyone would react to seeing me at this time of day. Would they be annoyed with me for avoiding them? Would they give me what I had once wanted and ignore me? Had I broken the only friendships I had?

"Evelyn!" I only had the time to catch a glimpse of the relief on Darwin's face before his arms circled around my back and brought me into him, his cheek against my temple. I was frozen with fear, clenching my eyes shut against memories of the asylum, completely still and unresponsive in his arms. "We've been worried about you," he murmured quietly. "I'm sorry if we did anything to upset you."

My body relaxed and the memories dissipated as I acknowledged his words. They weren't angry with me, they didn't hate me, they weren't going to ignore me; I'd been so wrong. They were truly the best people I could have surrounded myself with. They were everything I needed to help me get better, and I'd distanced myself from them because I was a coward.

Hesitantly, my arms reached out and around Darwin's waist, lightly holding onto him. This was my first hug in years. "Thank you," I whispered. "You didn't do anything wrong, though. I was just afraid."

He pulled back and held my shoulders as my hands fell to my sides. "Afraid of what?" he frowned.

"That you'd all be taken from me and I'd be alone again," I replied quietly, avoiding his eyes.

He grinned widely, squeezing my shoulders so that I'd look up at him. "We're not going anywhere. I promise."

I smiled back, nodding. When he stepped to the side, I looked around and noticed that Erik had left at some point, but when I spotted Angel, Raven and Hank all grinning genuinely at me, I realised that I felt just as comfortable with them as I did with Erik. At first, he'd been the one I was most at ease with because he knew what I'd been through, he _understood_; now I realised that was not all that I needed. I needed people who were different from me, who'd had better lives, so that I didn't have to be surrounded by the memories of past traumas all the time. I didn't have to move on from my childhood alone; they'd be there for me, reminding me of how good my life now was in comparison.

"Hey, guys," I smiled at them, cherishing their friendly and cheerful replies. "Sorry I've been a bit moody recently."

"If we're gonna put up with how flirtatious Sean can be, I'm sure we can put up with your mood swings," Raven teased, grinning.

I grinned back before walking over to the bar, feeling thirsty. "Speaking of Sean," I said, "Where is he?"

"He went to wake up Alex," Angel replied, coming over to sit on a stool. "Who, by the way, you're gonna love."

I quirked an eyebrow at her, lifting a Coke bottle to the rest of them to ask if they wanted one, receiving nods all round in reply. "Why's that?" I asked Angel.

"He's hot," she smirked.

I was twelve when I went in the asylum, so I knew what she meant, but I'd never really come across a guy I considered "hot" before. Sure, Darwin was handsome, Hank was cute, and Sean was... well, _aesthetically_ he was a little appealing, I supposed, but none of them were strikingly attractive. If I did find this guy that attractive, I didn't know how I'd react since I didn't have the experience; I just hoped I wouldn't do anything stupid. But, then again, looks had never really meant much to me, so maybe that's why no one had stood out to me before. "Why does it matter?" I finally replied, retrieving seven glasses and seven Coke bottles.

Angel gaped at me. "It means our job has just gotten a lot more entertaining!"

"Do you have any idea how shallow that makes you sound?" Darwin chuckled, sitting down at the table nearest the bar. I smirked at him and looked to Angel's offended face.

"Where I come from, looks are everything," she retorted.

"She's got a point," I told Darwin, pouring out the drinks.

When I was opening the seventh bottle, the top fell off the bar and down onto the floor, rolling underneath one of the cupboards. Sighing heavily, I put the bottle opener on the bar and got down on my hands and knees, pressing my face against the floor to try and locate the top. I heard the door open and two sets of footsteps entered the room, accompanied by Sean's voice. "Is Evelyn not back yet?" he asked disappointedly.

My eyebrows rose at the emotion as Darwin replied. "Yeah, she's right– oh... Evelyn?"

My fingers closed around the bottle top and I pulled it out, rising to my feet quickly. Too quickly. My head throbbed in pain as darkness clouded my vision momentarily, but I just blinked a few times and it was gone, letting me see Darwin's amused features. "The bottle top fell," I explained lamely, holding it up for him to see.

"Evelyn!" Sean cheered. I turned to look at him, smiling at his delight as he sauntered over and leant an elbow on the bar, smirking as usual. "You've been playing hard to get." I rolled my eyes at his behaviour, unable to stop the amused grin from breaking out across my lips.

"Hey, Evelyn," Angel said pointedly, gaining my attention. "That over there is Alex, the new recruit I was telling you about."

I followed her finger and found myself staring at a guy my age with deep, dark blue eyes and short, blonde hair. He was tall, but shorter than Hank, I estimated, with broad shoulders and muscular biceps exposed by his short-sleeved, white shirt which hung over a set of blue jeans. His face was full of strong, sharp features, and his eyes showed caution and a hint of fear.

But Angel was right, I realised: he wasn't bad to look at in the slightest.

My first attempt at speaking didn't work that well, so I cleared my throat and tried again, managing to get out, "Hey, do you want a drink?" despite the confusion I felt towards unexpectedly losing the ability to speak.

He nodded, swallowing, and replied, "Yeah, please," in the deepest, most masculine voice I'd ever heard. Suddenly I was very aware of the fact that I was wearing shorts and a loose tank-top.

"I'll have one too, since you offered," Sean remarked sarcastically, tapping the bar surface.

I rolled my eyes at him again – I was sure he would make my eyes fall out one day, just like Raven was going to give me a heart attack – and pushed a glass towards him. "Already made you one, Sean."

His fake, offended face fell into a smirk again. "You know me so well," he winked.

"Too well," I replied, smirking at his pout as the others chuckled. _You see?_ I told myself. _You can be comfortable with these people too._

Everyone came over and took their glasses, Alex murmuring a "Thanks" as he did, and dispersed into their own areas. Alex and Sean went to sit with Darwin, while Raven and Hank went to sit on a sofa and Angel stayed where she was, on the stool at the bar. She leaned over the counter towards me. "Told you he was hot," she grinned.

I picked up my glass, shaking my head at her, and went over to sit on the spare sofa. To my disappointment, she followed me and plopped down at my side, eyes shining. "Angel, seriously?" I sighed.

"What?" she pouted. "You can't tell me you don't find him attractive, not after what I just saw."

I frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

Her eyes widened with delight, and she looked across to a smirking Raven and slightly confused Hank. Then she looked back to me. "It was so obvious," she said.

"Do I even want to know?" I groaned, rubbing my face.

"I think we should let her figure it out for herself," Raven said.

"But what if she realises when it's too late?" Angel whined.

"We can tell her before it gets to that point, if it's really obvious she's not going to figure it out."

"Does anyone want some food?" Sean called out suddenly from across the room.

"You ate an hour ago," Hank replied, bewildered.

"That's no excuse, Hank," Sean told him seriously. "C'mon, I want a snack. Someone come with me?"

I stood quickly. "I'll come. I haven't eaten yet."

"Great," he grinned, getting up and walking towards the doors. "Man, I love snacks."

I shared a smirk with Darwin, catching Alex's gaze as I looked away. He blinked before looking back to his drink, and I followed after Sean, wondering why the eye contact had felt so awkward.


	5. Lost

**Hola! So I'm starting university soon and I figured now would be the ideal time to push out another chapter. By the way, I just keep going mad with new fanfics - it's going to kill me. I've started writing stories that have nothing to do with existing material (GASP I actually have a functioning imagination that can make my own characters and not bring in already existing ones) that I might end up posting somewhere - I think Wattpad's the place for that. Also, in doc manager, where the hell has the 'line break' button gone?!**

**But, back to the reason we're all here! Enjoy the chapter, and reviews are welcome as always:)**

**DISCLAIMER: You already know what I'm going to say, don't you? Good. You're clever. I like you.**

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**Chapter 5 – Lost**

My forehead was pressed against the cool metal of the table in the empty mess hall, a pained groan escaping my lips as I clutched my bloated stomach. I felt the bench dip a little as Sean sat down next to me again, setting his _third_ tray of food down on the table. Feeling his finger prod my cheek, I swatted half-heartedly at his hand. "Good, you're still alive," he commented, chuckling to himself.

"I feel like my stomach is going to burst," I complained, squeezing my eyes shut as I felt the organ clench around the mass of food uneasily.

"You only had two trays!" he exclaimed through a mouthful of food. "Not even that!"

"I haven't eaten more than leftovers in _seven years_," I told him, "Stuffing my face with that much food that fast isn't safe."

"Well, you better get used to it," he replied. "From now on you're gonna be eating more; you need more meat on those bones."

I turned my head so that my temple was on the table and looked up at him with a slight smirk. "Are you going to be my dietician?"

His eyes widened and he gaped at me. "That is the single most genius idea anyone has ever had ever."

I chuckled, closing my eyes again contentedly. Letting my guard down around the others was a lot easier when I was only with one of them, and Sean's playful attitude definitely helped with that. He was never subtle with what he wanted to say; he'd just spit it out, even if he knew it was a sensitive subject – for example, the fact that I was a little unhealthy considering how skinny I was – and somehow that made it easier to approach for me, as well. He didn't make a big deal out of how fragile I could seem sometimes and it certainly didn't hold him back from teasing or flirting, which made me feel like it really wasn't a big deal at all. It was inexplicably helpful – _he_ was inexplic–

My head jerked back and my eyes snapped open to see Sean grinning at me, holding a spoon of beans that he had pressed to my lips seconds before. "Goddamnit, Sean!" I exclaimed, unable to stop the laugh that escaped my chest at his ludicrous behaviour. I wiped the bean sauce off my mouth as he laughed at me, his elbow leaning on the table as his hand supported his forehead, his shoulders shaking with the silent laughter he was emitting. "Asshole," I muttered, scowling.

He looked up at me, his amused expression replaced with one of delight as he pointed a finger at my face. "Look who's coming out of her shell!" he grinned happily.

"I'm not just going to sit and not react when you're trying to force a spoonful of beans down my throat," I retorted.

He ignored me and stood, bowing to an invisible audience with a smug smirk. "Yes, thank you. You're right! I _am_ the one that broke through her cold, distant exterior and brought out this happy, playful beauty! I take full credit! Congratulate me! Bow to me! Give me your money and snacks and I shall do the same to you all!"

"Sean," I said quietly, standing next to him and putting a hand on his arm.

"She wants to thank me herself! Perhaps I'll get a ki–"

"Sean!" I hissed, squeezing the slight muscle beneath my fingers. He frowned down at me and then noticed I wasn't looking at him.

"Oh," he mumbled, finally spotting the cluster of five agents standing in the doorway, watching us with hateful, disgusted eyes. There was a tense silence where we just stared at each other, mutants and humans, uncertain and apprehensive. Then Sean spoke up again, "You should try the sausages; they're really good," he told the group, chuckling nervously.

"And here I thought you couldn't be more of a _freak_," one of the agents spat. Sean flinched.

"Leave us alone," I said, my voice coming out stronger than I felt.

"What is _wrong_ with you?"another agent asked, and suddenly I was strapped into a chair with black eyes scrutinising me, asking the same question over and over and _over_ again as the shocks got worse and worse.

"_What is wrong with you, Evelyn_?" the eyes asked me. "_Why are you here_?"

There was a hand gripping my upper arm.

"_What's wrong with you_?"

"_What's wrong_?"

There was another hand pressed against my cheek.

"Evelyn, what's wrong? Are you okay? Evelyn!"

I blinked and the black eyes disappeared, finding that Sean was standing in front of me, blocking the agents from my view, his bright blue eyes watching me with concern, not cruelty. "Sean?" I croaked, confused.

His face sagged with relief. "Good, you're okay. C'mon, let's get back to the others." He took my hand in his, making me flinch slightly, and turned back to face the doorway. "Leave us alone," he said firmly.

One of them let out a harsh bark of laughter and my eyes clenched shut. "After that show? Are you serious?"

Something bad was happening, I could tell; Sean's grip tightened and he took a step back, my nose pressing against his shoulder. I could feel it rising and falling steadily with his heavy breaths as they began to quicken.

"You're really just making it worse for yourself, you know," an agent commented. "You're a bunch of immature, unnatural kids; there's no way you can fight against anyone, acting like that. _Someone_ has to toughen you up."

At the unspoken threat, my eyes snapped open and anger bubbled in my chest. He was threatening Sean; he was threatening one of the few people I cared about. I stepped out from behind the lanky ginger and glared at the agents heatedly, seeing a few smirk at my sudden burst of bravery while others recoiled slightly, even more apprehensive now. "Back off," I said threateningly.

One of the agents laughed. "That's real cute, girly." The most confident of the group started to stalk towards us, smirking cruelly. Memories of the same predatory look flashed in front of my eyes and my heart hammered against my chest, enraged and terrified. "What are you gonna do if we don't 'back off', huh? You gonna cry? You gonna scream for help?" I vaguely deduced that they didn't know Erik and Charles were back yet. "Don't worry, girly, we're only gonna beat some sense into you."

How could I get the older mutants' attention from in here? I started thinking Charles' name hard, concentrating as much as I could on it, but I received nothing in reply. Wondering if he could detect high levels of emotions, I took a deep breath and gave in, letting go of Sean's hand so I wouldn't crush it.

Memories continued to flash in front of me, and I forced myself to stop fighting them, allowing the panic, fear, hatred, and rage to consume me. I could feel myself shaking, my cheeks hot and wet with the tears starting to drip down them. My heart was thumping erratically against my ribcage, so hard I was sure everyone in the room could hear it, and my muscles were jerking with the memories of shocks attacking my mind like knives.

I was slipping. I knew I was, but my control was also slipping, and that was only fuelling my panic. I was going to lose myself in the memories, and I didn't know if I could come back from them; fighting them off for so long was finally taking its toll on me.

I couldn't see the agents, or hear them, and I couldn't feel Sean's presence beside me anymore. I blinked, and then I was back in the asylum, strapped to the chair for real this time.

"Sweet Evelyn, why do you think you're here?"

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Erik hadn't felt such fury since Shaw had killed his mother. As soon as Charles had let out a pained yelp and clutched his head, muttering "Evelyn," and "Mess hall," he had bolted from the room for the young mutant, his awareness of the metal surrounding him growing stronger and more tempting with each pounding footstep. And then he had slammed through the doors to the mess hall, taking in the scene before him: five suited agents surrounding something. All he could see in front of them was a mop of ginger hair and all he could hear was Sean's voice yelling Evelyn's name as the agents chortled and taunted the two mutants.

One of the tables at their sides crumpled into itself noisily, grabbing their attention and coating the room in silence. Slowly, they turned to look at him, eyes widening in fear at the look on his face.

His jaw was clenched so hard he thought his teeth would shatter, and his entire body was tense with rage, emphasising his muscled arms and chest. Then he started walking towards them. "You humans," he began, his voice low and deadly quiet, "Are _weak_–" another table crumpled, "_cowardly_–" a third table, "_disgusting_–" a fourth, "creatures. I have half a mind to kill you." He glared at each one individually, eye twitching. "And the other half agrees whole-heartedly."

"You should leave," Charles' voice said sternly behind him. "He isn't joking."

Erik suddenly felt opposed to killing all of them as they hurried out of the hall, giving him a wide berth, and knew Charles had taken a field trip inside his mind. However, he would deal with the telepath later. For now, his legs brought him quickly towards Evelyn, who was curled into the foetal position on the cold floor, shaking, flinching, and weeping. His angered look went to Sean, who didn't even meet his gaze he was so concerned with the girl's state, and then to Charles, who had come to kneel down next to her head. "What's happening?" Erik demanded.

"She's lost," Charles muttered, frowning in concern and thought. Then his hand reached out to cover her forehead and he said softly, "Sleep." Her body's spasms lessened almost imperceptibly, but other than that, Charles' power seemed to have no effect.

"Charles?"

"Her memories are too strong. There's nothing I can do except wipe them from her mind, but I'm not even considering that at the moment. She'll need to face them for now. If it goes on for too long then I'll take action, but this is something she has to do herself."

"We can't leave her here," Sean spoke up for the first time, his voice strained and solemn.

"No, we can't," Charles agreed. "Erik, take her to the girls' room while I speak to Sean."

"Should she not be put somewhere quieter?" Erik asked, immediately sliding his arms under Evelyn's back and knees, lifting her up against his chest.

"I'll let Raven know that she shouldn't be disturbed," Charles replied thoughtfully. "I'm not quite sure whether their presence would hinder her or not, though. She could need the comfort."

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After speaking with Sean and sending him to the boys' room for some rest, Charles told the other mutants to stay inside the recreational room until either he or Erik told them otherwise, and to not answer the door to any agents unless it was Moira. They had protested at first, affronted that they were being confined to one room without a say in the matter, but then Raven asked where Evelyn was and everyone was suddenly concerned and insistent in their desire to see her. Alex was quiet, since he had only just met the girl, but Charles could feel his concern along with everyone else's.

"I'm sorry, but for now you'll have to give her some space," Charles told them apologetically. "I'll come back to let you know how she's doing later on."

As he was leaving, Darwin said his name and walked over, speaking quietly. "Did the agents do something to her?"

Charles sighed, knowing that Darwin was the most mature out of the group of young mutants. "They triggered memories of her past," he explained briefly. "She's asleep now but not yet free of them."

Darwin looked deflated. "She only just recovered," he murmured.

Charles frowned. He remembered the other mutants' recounts of Evelyn's strange behaviour while he and Erik had been recruiting Alex, and slipped his hands into his pockets. "The emotions and memories may have been building up for a while," he deduced, "And this might just be Evelyn's grip on them failing. She's been trying to suppress them all ever since she left instead of confronting them, and I think they might have finally overwhelmed her." He watched as Darwin brought a hand up to rub his eyes, frowning as if in pain. "I'm not sure if she'll need the presence of her friends to help her through this yet, but I'll let you know if she does."

"Thanks, Charles," Darwin nodded, turning to go back to the other mutants.

The telepath tried to send a reassuring smile in his sister's direction, but he sensed her anxieties worsen and knew it had not sufficed. The truth was: he was worried that Evelyn's years of cruelty were finally making their mark on her mental state, and he could only hope that the recent development of friendships would be enough to keep her from falling apart or turning into a revenge-seeking machine.

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I stared at the floor beneath his feet, eyes droopy, head heavy, silent tears continuously falling down my face. Just when I thought my body had gone numb, he'd shock me again, and suddenly every cell I consisted of awoke and shrieked with agonising _pain_, sending my limbs into a fit of spasms as a silent yell tore at my throat, my eyes clenching shut to try and block out his sick pleasure.

When I opened them, I was lying on the hard floor of my cell, two guards looming over me, their features fuzzy and indiscernible. Foul, heavy breathing hit my face, rough hands groping, ripping, slapping, punching. I was weak and helpless – pathetic. I could only whimper and close my eyes, pretending it was a bad dream.

My eyes opened again and I was sat at a small table, a chessboard set in front of me, a twitching patient sitting across from me. One move and I would win. I knew the patient would snap if I did, but I needed to know that I was good at something, that I could come out victorious and the better player in this game, since I lost in every other. I took my piece and moved it. "Checkmate," I muttered. The patient let out an ear-shattering screech of rage and threw herself across the table, knocking the board and the pieces onto the floor with a loud, clattering noise. Her hands clawed at my face as we fell backwards, and then she was gripping my neck. I tried to tell her it was too tight, that I couldn't breathe, but the words wouldn't come. She pulled my head up and smacked it down hard on the ground, and my eyes closed again, this time unintentionally, as pain blossomed at the back of my skull like a thorn bush.

This time, when I opened my eyes, I was sat at one of the visiting booths, staring through the bulletproof glass at a group of familiar faces. I saw Darwin and Raven, Erik and Sean, Charles, Alex, Hank, and Angel, all watching me, but not without kindness. Hearing heavy breathing behind me, I turned to see _him_, standing in his white coat, his black eyes burning into my soul, with guards flanking him and patients huddled behind them.

"You belong here, sweet Evelyn."

"They're your old life." I turned to face forward again, watching Raven's mouth move. "We're your new life."

"You can trust us," Erik said.

"Come with us," Raven smiled, so radiant and beautiful.

"The glass is bulletproof," I heard myself telling them. "I can't break it. I'll have to climb over it. I can't break it." And, yet, I didn't move.

"No more avoiding things," Charles told me.

"You can break it," Darwin said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"You can break it," Sean repeated.

"You don't know that. How can you believe that?"

"You're strong." I'd only heard this voice once, but I instantly identified the speaker. Alex looked at me, admiration in his dark blue gaze.

"Come with us," Angel said.

"We'll be your family," Hank said.

"I can break it?" I asked. They nodded their heads. "Okay."

I stood.

"Sweet Evelyn."

I pulled my arm back.

"What is wrong with you?"

I punched the glass as hard as I could and it shattered beneath my fist. "There is nothing wrong with me."


End file.
